John Murdoch came up to me this morning after focus groups. He pointed to our new inquiry model and told me about a book he’s been reading in which it talks about learning as having to focus on the big questions and the big issues.
Monday’s lesson with my level 3 drama class was one that I will never forget. Neither will my students and neither will David Pegram.
I gave them all the assignment of investigating a theatre form and told them they would need to present their information to the rest of the class. Scott had Invisible Theatre and I suggested to him that a good way to teach the class would be to do some invisible theatre with them. Other teachers have done it and I thought it would be good for them to experience the theatre, rather than just be lectured on it; “show me and I see, tell me and I”ll hear; involve me and I’ll understand’.
Invisible theatre is basically where the audience do not know that they are watching actors, acting. It’s primary aim is to highlight oppression and make the audience act on it in order to evoke some form of social change.
So, rather than have me pick on a student – which was our initial idea, I asked David the DP to come into class and tell me off for inappropriate behaviour in front of the students. Scott’s role would be to sit in the class and see if he could stir them into some kind of action.
And it happened. David came in, he asked to speak to me and did so in the foyer with the door open. He questioned my judgement in taking the year 13 class to a play that contained adult themes, and when he asked for my annual report I said I’d been to busy and he came back with a jibe about me going to Melbourne. At this stage I walked past my students and back into the staffroom, thinking he would follow me.
At this point, Scott asked the class what they thought about the situation (they’d been keeping up the conversation I had started earlier with them, but also listening to what was going on). At that stage Kushani got up, headed to the door and proceeded to tell the Deputy Principal off, saying that she thought it was unprofessional of him to do that in front of them and that he should have shut the door or taken me to his office.
David decided to end it at that point and came to get me. When I entered the room again, obviously not distressed, the kids were very angry. Telling me it wasn’t funny. Kushani was crying.
At that point, Scott told them all about Invisible theatre and explained what had happened. Kushani was immediately embarrassed that she had confronted the Deputy Principal. He told them how impressed he was that by the end of their schooling he was pleased that they had the gumption to stand up for what they believe in.
And I’m proud. And I’m touched that they tried to defend me. And boy did we have some conversations about their rights to attend whatever theatre they want, despite their parents’ concerns. And about their right to be angry as an unwilling participant in the drama.
They REALLY learnt. And they REALLY thought hard about the issues involved and some they hadn’t considered before.
But I know there was a line crossed here too.
When do the big issues and the big questions get too big?
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2 comments:
Hi Kim,
An interesting situation and one that a Drama lecturer of mine used in 1987 when I was doing my undergraduate studies.
I was also involved in several Invisible Theatre events that were political and protest actions - back when students actually got off our backsides and did something beyond whining.
The events we staged and the one offered by my lecturer have much in common with the one you describe.
I suppose on some level I come back to the belief that people are resilient and can learn useful lessons from such situations.
I'm also becoming increasingly concerned about the professional practice of such forms - as I'm acutely aware of how litigious our culture has become and more people would rather wear the mantle of victim than find effective coping mechanisms.
I've long believed that learning always involves a measure of discomfort as we step into areas beyond our current knowledge/skill base.
However, we seem to be in a era when such outlooks are not popular - it seems that we are expected to teach and learn without ever realising change.
I would say that in a healthy critically aware classroom environment such a lesson is still a potent mechanism for learning and that acknowledging and reflecting upon student reactions goes a long way towards helping students discover their own capacity for resilient responses.
Rationality doesn't seem to hold much sway in the face of someone determined to become a victim of their own emotional responses.
Having said that - where is the line between deliberately misleading people who don't know they are supposed to be functioning as an audience?
I'm reminded of Frank Farrelly in "Provocative Therapy" who suggests that when all reasonable approaches have been exhausted, one either accepts a pathology or attempts "unreasonable" tactics.
In a drama class we expect students to have felt responses - emotional engagement with their learning. But in reality we seldom do much beyond giving that lip service - Invisible Theatre is one form that necessitates a step into the unknown.
As such, perhaps in a school environment we need to enlist support structures in case some students feel more vulnerable than resilient.
Maybe the form itself is not in question but rather how we go about practicing the form?
There is a new article just published that considers some of these issues.:
Invisible theatre, ethics, and the adult educator
Author: Bonnie Burstow
Affiliation: University of Toronto, Canada
DOI: 10.1080/02601370802047775
Published in: International Journal of Lifelong Education, Volume 27, Issue 3 May 2008 , pages 273 - 288
Cheers
Kim
http://www.dramanite.com
Given that Boal developed the concept of Invisible Theatre as a form of political activism and Drama Education somewhere along the line co-opted it as a pedagogical form, perhaps it is Drama educators who are at fault?
We talk about role protection in process drama - yet in the instances described this important safety buffer is waived. Perhaps a better way to engage in classroom based Invisible Theatre is to embed it within Process Drama where the form can be explored in practice but there are other measures in place for the welfare of participants.
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